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Apart from a few NHL owners, you would be hard-pressed to find anybody who doesn’t want to see NHL players participating in the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi next February.

The involved parties met Friday and IIHF honcho Rene Fasel said the process moved forward and he remains optimistic a deal can be reached. Interestingly, he said he didn’t think the financial aspects of having NHLers at the Olympics — which are significant — were the biggest stumbling block.

“I remain cautiously optimistic. (I) still believe a deal can be in place before the world championship. Logistics remains main issue,” tweeted the IIHF, quoting Fasel. He said talks would continue with some stakeholders next week at the under-18 championships in Sochi.

The logistics are apparently accommodating NHL guests at the Olympic Games.

Certainly, you wouldn’t think that would be a deal breaker, but we’ll see.

If the Olympics benefit from the presence of NHLers, and they surely do, then the NHL wants the IIHF and the IOC to ante up to cover the cost of getting to Sochi and the insurance to protect players’ salaries in the event of injury. Based on Fasel’s comment, it sounds like there was progress there.

When some players were thinking about heading to Europe to play during the lockout, a couple of agents told QMI Agency some of the highest earners were looking at paying in the area of $50,000-$75,0000 in insurance premiums a month to cover their contracts in the event of injury.

One of the things that really changed the game, said one agent, is the top NHL players now have more terms on their contracts, thus it costs more to insure their deals.

The Olympics are going to have the best, therefore highest paid, players in the world. Multiply those kinds of premiums by 23 players each for the top hockey nations (Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) and you could be looking at a tab that exceeds $10 million in premiums, said one agent.

I haven’t had the chance to ask NHL commissioner Gary Bettman where the price of jet fuel is going these days but transporting more than 100 NHLers to Sochi — and given the NHL schedule they probably can’t all go together — is going to cost a significant amount, too.

It’s hard to blame the NHL for wanting Olympic organizers, who benefit from the presence of NHL players, to ante up to have the players there. Why should the NHL supply the players and have to pay all the freight for having them there?

Sounds like the IOC and the IIHF are willing to underwrite the expense of having NHLers at their Games.

HEAR AND THERE: Defenceman Danny DeKeyser, signed as a college free agent by the Detroit Red Wings at the end of last month, is off to a good start. He’s been clocking 16 minutes and nine seconds a game in three games. “He’s going to be a good player in this league for a long time,” said Wings coach Mike Babcock. “Obviously he has to get stronger, but he’s a good skater, he’s smart and a good defender. He’s pretty easy to like.” ... Speaking of young players, forward Filip Forsberg, the former first-round draft pick acquired by the Nashville Predators from the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline in the Martin Erat deal, is expected to arrive Saturday and play for the Preds Monday against Vancouver.

THE BUZZ: St. Louis Blues defenceman Roman Polak scored for the first time in over two years the other night, but he makes them count. He has nine career goals now and four of them are game winners, including Thursday’s against Minnesota ... Since getting rocked behind the net by Vancouver’s Alex Edler, Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith had stopped 93 of 95 shots going into Friday’s game against the Calgary Flames. Smith has been pretty feisty defending his crease as he, like a lot of goaltenders, isn’t happy with the amount of contact these days. Smith, who can become an unrestricted free agent in July, is going to be another goaltender to watch in an interesting market this summer.

JUST WONDERING: How can Buffalo Sabres forward Steve Ott say “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” when asked about trying to put his tongue on the visor of Montreal Canadiens forward Jeff Halpern Thursday night? The video review shows there was a distinct licking motion ... Don’t know which is more impressive, that St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott has a shut-out string of almost 190 minutes or that he has had to make only 73 saves in that time. That’s some pretty good defence in front of him, too.

JUST SAYING: To add to the Alex Ovechkin-Steven Stamkos goal-scoring debate, Ovechkin has scored 15 goals when the Washington Capitals have been down by a goal, tied or up by a goal (4-7-4), which you would say are pretty big goals. Tampa’s Steven Stamkos has scored 14 in the same circumstances (2-10-2). Ovechkin has six in “garbage time,” with the Caps either up or down by three goals. Stamkos has scored one in “garbage time,” with the Bolts.

THE LAST WORD: Danny Briere has always been one of the class acts in the NHL and he proved it again when talking about the possibility of being an amnesty buyout this summer by the Philadelphia Flyers. “Obviously, I end up paying the price. But you know what, there’s been so many good things that have turned up in my favour over the years that I’m not going to complain about that.” Like I said, class.

NHL meets with IOC to discuss Sochi Olympics participation

Apart from a few NHL owners, you would be hard-pressed to find anybody who doesn't want to see NHL players participating in the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi next February.

The involved parties met Friday and IIHF honcho Rene Fasel said the process moved forward and he remains optimistic a deal can be reached. Interestingly, he said he didn’t think the financial aspects of having NHLers at the Olympics — which are significant — were the biggest stumbling block.

“I remain cautiously optimistic. (I) still believe a deal can be in place before the world championship. Logistics remains main issue,” tweeted the IIHF, quoting Fasel. He said talks would continue with some stakeholders next week at the under-18 championships in Sochi.

The logistics are apparently accommodating NHL guests at the Olympic Games.

Certainly, you wouldn’t think that would be a deal breaker, but we’ll see.

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There wasn't much left of Daniel Briere's voice. The veteran Montreal Canadiens forward had been turned into a cheerleader, sitting on the Canadiens bench for most of the third period of their Game 7 victory over the Boston Bruins, cooling his heels despite having set up the crucial first goal two minutes into the game.